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emotional connection

Last night I presented on branding at Powered by Social Media event, hosted by Taylor Gaines and held at Prime and Provisions. The event was well attended and I met a lot of great people working on exciting projects. Below is a short recap on my presentation

I first want to thank Taylor for the opportunity to speak at her amazing event, Powered by Social Media that has been held throughout downtown Chicago this past year. There was an excellent turn out of people who were genuinely interested in the topic that I presented on.

The main topic for the event was on creating a branded world. That is, how do you develop more than a transaction-based business and turn it into a deeper connection and relationship with your ideal customers? The quote above from Omni Resorts intrigued me for many reasons.

Brand experiences deliver on your brand promise. They increase the perception of your brand. They evoke emotions. They can be designed to deliver consistent results repeatedly.

Brand experiences are one of the highest stages of intimacy a brand can have with their clients and customers. MBMLM describes this intimacy as fusing – or when a consumer and brand become inexorably linked and co-identified. The identities of the consumer and the brand begin to merge and become a form of mutual realization and expression. This leads to a greater propensity of consumers to pay more for a brand’s products.

But how do you do this? How can you any brand create experiences that fuse and form tight-knit relationships and command higher premium prices?

It starts with a set of core beliefs and values of the brand. The brand must have a clear set of core values that will guide the organization forward, no matter who is leading the company. In other words, whether the founder leaves the company, the foundational principles set will remain unchanged. They are the basis for all decisions a brand makes. The foundational principles are:

Vision

Mission

Brand Promise

Core Values

Guiding Principles

Forming these components and having the brand and organization adapt them into daily use is what I call setting the groundwork. Every decision, every action, product line, new service, new hire, operations, marketplace positioning, culture – all stem from these foundational principles.

Once these foundational elements are set, the physical and digital brand experiences that your audience interact with on a daily basis are the amplification and personification of your core values and beliefs. The designed experience is intended to bring out those values through strategic placement of elements, visuals, and using the other senses to immerse and captivate the customer.

Did you make it out to the event last night? Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite part! Connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Half-Day & Full Day Brand Strategy Workshop Packages

We’ll work one-on-one in a private setting with you to develop the foundational elements of an unshakable brand: vision, mission, brand promise, core values, and guiding principles. At the end of the session, you’ll have a clear picture of what your brand’s foundation, what it stands for, and how to attract your ideal audience.

Remember Choose your Own Adventure books as a kid? The books where you would come to the end of a chapter and make a decision on what direction the story should take. Your choices dictate the characters fate and change the experience of the story. These actions emotionally tie you into the story, creating a stronger attachment to the characters and outcome. Lifeline takes this concept to another level, creating a BrandedWorld experience.

Design plays a role in all organizations, intentional or not. Design can attract a targeted audience, connect emotionally, and influence decisions. Taking it one step further consistent designed experiences can be measured and improved upon over time. Disney is an expert at developing consistent, measured design experiences. Across all of Disney’s theme parks, no matter the age of the person I speak with, all have experienced the magic of Mickey in a very similar, if not the same way. This is by design and creates an incredibly strong brand.

An Immersive Text-Based Game brings Characters to Life

Lifeline is a text-based game in which players make life or death decisions to help navigate Taylor, the protagonist, through the storyline.

The game, written by acclaimed writer @Dave_Justus creates a gripping, interactive narrative through the aftermath of a crash landing of an alien moon. The character you interact with is stranded, and their team is either missing or dead. His only communicator is connected to you. Taylor is relying on YOU.

Using the Senses to Immerse the Reader

We know from experiential design research, when multiple senses are used throughout an experience, it creates a stronger connection. Memories are created. Emotions arise. It feels more personal.

Lifeline uses touch and visuals, like most text-based mobile games would. It then goes one step further and adds in sound. Now when Taylor pings you, it feels like any of your other messaging apps. Your iPhone, Apple watch, or Android device converts into a military-grade communicator in which you must help guide Taylor persevere and survive. Your choices can have profound effects.

The use of the senses creates an immersive, intriguing story that carrys out in realtime.

Using the Senses in your Organization

Not all organizations feel like they have an intriguing, interactive story experience they can entice customers and clients with. But all organizations have a story, and all stories can be told in an inviting way that creates just as much intrigue and interest.

Visuals in the design industry become the focal point, as concept renderings and drawings help to carry a vision for new development into the construction phase of the project. Knowing this, an architecture or planning firm can create intrigue and interest around the drawings and concept renderings, creating a higher perceived value and creating a ‘grand reveal’ experience for their clients.

By taking the common element or component that is expected and developing an experience and story around it can set your organization apart while creating a unique experience for your clients. If memorable enough, clients will surely share the story of the grand reveal and how their project came to be.

The sounds throughout Lifeline connect the reader to the environment that Taylor finds himself in. The suspensful music adds to the pressure to choose the best answer for Taylor in order to keep him alive. Having interactions through both an Apple Watch and an iPhone also enhanced the story and gameplay. I found myself concerned when I’d get an alert on my watch and would want to check my iPhone in order to see Taylor was and how I could help.

Disneyland is one of the best examples of a BrandedWorld experience. Masterful storytellers, they physically immerse their guests into the worlds of their characters fans know from films, toys, games, and other products.

Designed Experiences Are Intentional

Designed experiences can create an unfair competitive advantage quickly, especially as clients, customers, or guests become fans and begin sharing their experience. It is important to think about the designed experience as a high-level strategy. Once the vision for how the experience will begin, its middle, and end, it can then be broken down to understand the components and how each can be measured.

Interested in developing a designed experience? We can help. Check out our capabilities.

3 Takeaways from Lifeline

Lifeline is a brilliant example of taking a choose your own adventure type of story and creating a version using today’s gadgets. The story comes to life through visuals, sounds, and interactive choices the reader has to make in order to proceed. Here are 3 takeaways from the game and how you can apply these same design aspects to your organziation, no matter the industry.

1. Work to create a designed experience. Designed experiences do not have to have the magic touches like those from Disney, but should evoke emotion, intrigue, and curiosity.2. Develop a clear process to guide a guest or client through from beginning to end. Lifeline is an immersive experince in which the reader traverses through an alien moon to help get Taylor rescued. In your organization, there is also a process that you take clients through to rescue them from the issues and pain they are facing. What is that process? What are the steps? How can you further define each step? Can you name the steps to create a stronger experience?3. Add in other senses to your existing experiences As you assess your current experiences, how can you further enhance them? How can you add sound or music? How can you bring in the other senses to create a stronger and more cohesive experience?

How do you use design in your organization to better tell your story? How can you apply strategies that Lifeline uses into your current designed experiences? Join the conversation and leave a comment below.